Monday, July 4, 2011

Saturday continued

We left Munster in the late afternoon and drove to Bad Bentheim, just east of the Dutch/German border.

It is a town on a hill - yes, you heard me right, a hill. And at the top of the hill is Bentheim Castle.

We spent the night in a charming pension that used to be a watermill and in the morning headed up to the Castle. Extensive renovations were completed on the castle between 1882-1914. However, it was occupied and suffered little damage during the second world war. It has been memorialized by Dutch paitner, Jacob van Ruisdeal.

The castle has walls about 3 feet thick, with a walkway around the outside

From up here you can actually look over the surroundings

There is a lovely inner courtyard

The upper floors on the left of the photo above are occupied, today, by Hereditary Prince Carl Ferdinand of Bentheim [34 years old] and his wife, Elna Margret. Part of the connection between this German castle and the Dutch royal family is because Queen Emma (1858-1934) was the sister of Princess Pauline, wife of Prince Alexis II. He oversaw the renovations mentioned above.

Seattle Time

Netherlands

About Me

Retired from state government and have not regretted a minute. I quilt, embroider, sew and just love playing with various textiles. i adore my 5 grandchildren and love to spend time with them. My other passion is travel, as often as I can manage it.